Diasporic connectivity and patriarchal formations in the sex trafficking of women
This thesis explores diasporic connectivities and formations of patriarchy in the cross-border sex trafficking of women in the United Kingdom. The function of heteronormativity in the trafficking process is also a key concern. This is a multi-methods study, drawing on interviews with experts in the field of trafficking, and on data extracted from completed Crown Prosecution Service trafficking case files. Interviews with national and international experts were undertaken to explore the extent of the knowledge base on crime groups engaged in the sex trafficking of women into and within the UK by reference to their structure, composition, modus operandi, and to the role of diasporas in the trafficking process. Additionally, through data extracted from Crown Prosecution Service trafficking files, defendants are profiled and groups are allocated to models in a typology hypothesizing four possible intersections between traffickers and their respective diasporas in the UK. The role of diasporas and the function of heteronormativity are similarly explored through the data during each phase of recruitment, movement and exploitation, and with particular focus on women as traffickers. The thesis shows the methods of recruitment employed in source countries to ensure the supply of women, and the forms of control exercised by traffickers in the UK. In examining the business of exploitation, it further shows how the commodification of women is central to the hegemonic masculinity project.
360 Social problems & services; associations
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